RED . . . Who's Afraid of the Big, Bad R. . .

Connections   oil on paper applied to wooden panel   50x70cm

Something new!

I have always avoided reds, don't know why, or rather I  do know why . . . too strong, too dominant, too . . too everything I guess. I considered them  too difficult to handle.

But here I deliberately chose red, alizarin crimson red to be exact, ( with touches of cad. red to warm up a little). After my sessions of mentoring with Janice Mason Steeves, I now feel I can defy my self-made taboos and restraints without consequences. It is completely liberating .  I enjoyed working on this piece, a real challenge and intend to continue with reds and new color schemes from here on.

Not only my color choice was liberated but so also was my method.  Again thank you Janice. I began with very thin washes of color (color, oil and turpetine) and watched as they dripped and intermingled down the paper as if they were watercolors. Remembering the importance of tonal contrasts I kept track of the lights and darks as I constructed my composition. Brushes were put aside in favor of spatulas, palette knives and . . . my fingers, also in line with the neccessity to "play" with my paint, to feel it glide onto the support, (which is paper, prepared with gesso and applied to a wood panel.

Again I am continuing my theme of anatomy using the spinal column as the central "figure"!

Just want to show you another "red" painting done awhile ago. There's a difference???? A change?
 

Figures -  oil, cold wax on canvas,  64x47cm

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